<p class="ingestion featured-caption">Disney Aulani was beautiful, and I'm glad we were able to save money on our stay.Jill Robbins</p><ul class="summary-list"><li>My family went to Hawaii and spent about $5,000 on airfare, a rental car, food, and activities.</li><li>We used Disney Vacation Club points to get a villa for five nights that was valued at $7,630.</li></ul><p><a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/disney-aulani-resort-review-worth-it-for-adults-hawaii-2023-2">Aulani</a>, Disney's resort in Oahu's quiet Ko Olina area, has been on my family's bucket list for quite some time.</p><p>The resort opened in 2011 and cost an estimated <a target="_blank" class href="https://archive.nytimes.com/mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/16/new-disney-vacation-resort-in-hawaii-faces-possible-losses/">$850 million</a> to build. Today, the 21-acre property has more than 800 rooms (including suites and villas).</p><p>My family of four finally visited the resort in June. Our trip was pricey, but it went smoothly, and we had a great experience.</p><p>Our expenses are roughly as follows:</p><p><strong>Airfare: </strong>$2,284 for two round-trip flights from San Antonio to Honolulu after using points for our kids' tickets</p><p><strong>Rental car: </strong>$464</p><p><strong>Food and drinks:</strong> $1,193</p><p><strong>Activities and excursions: </strong>$1,058</p><p><strong>Hotel: </strong>$0 for five nights at Aulani after using points</p><p>Here's a closer look at how we spent our money and what we'd do differently next time.</p>